What Do We Do With Darby?
by Vol lady
Summary: Jarrod has a double. He's a con man and a thief, and the Barkleys get an unwanted houseguest.
1. Chapter 1

What Do We Do With Darby?

Chapter 1

Sheriff Madden looked at the wanted poster and couldn't believe his eyes. The picture was familiar – too familiar – but the name, or actually names, were a complete surprise to him. "Gentleman Jack Darby?" "John Avon?" "John Stratford?" "Sir John Stratford Avon?" This had to be a joke. Some printer in this town had concocted this thing and mailed it to him –

Except he checked the envelope again, and it did bear a postmark from Dodge City, Kansas. But why would anybody send him a wanted poster from Kansas? And why in heaven's name would it have Jarrod Barkley's picture with such obviously phony names under it?

He turned it over and read a note on the back. Then he got up and immediately went over to Jarrod Barkley's office. He knew the lawyer was in town – he'd been here for several weeks now and wasn't due to go to San Francisco for another few weeks. The sheriff rolled the poster up as he carried it – he sure didn't want anyone else to see it. In minutes, he was hustling up the stairs to Jarrod's office.

Jarrod was alone, his secretary out sick. The door to his inner office was wide open, and Jarrod was at his desk, his nose buried in a law book, paper alongside the book and a pen in his hand. "Jarrod!" the sheriff said.

Jarrod jumped. He'd been concentrating so hard he hadn't heard the sheriff come through the door. "Fred, come on in." And then he noticed the sheriff's face, the worry lines, the frown. "What's wrong?"

Sheriff Madden unrolled the poster and put it in front of Jarrod. Jarrod looked at it. His eyes went wide, but then his face took on a look that said he didn't believe this for a moment.

"Well," Jarrod said. "Either someone has an odd sense of humor or I have a twin."

"I think your mother would have told you if you had a twin, but I don't think this is a joke, either," Sheriff Madden said. "It came in an envelope posted in Kansas, and there's a note scribbled on the back."

Jarrod turned it over and read the note. "'Reportedly coming to California, potential relatives in Stockton.' This has still got to be a joke," Jarrod said, shaking his head.

"That's what I thought, but when was the last time you were in Kansas?"

"Passing through on the train last year, but I never even got off. I don't know what this is, Fred, but this isn't me. I'm not wanted anywhere, much less in Kansas."

"I'll wire out there and see if this is legitimate, but damn, Jarrod, this guy looks exactly like you."

"He does, doesn't he?" Jarrod said. "Well, I heard somebody say once that we each have at least one double in the world. I guess Gentleman Jack Darby is mine." Jarrod read the poster over again, then flipped it to read the note. "I wonder who his relatives are supposed to be?"

"Do you think it could be the Barkleys?"

"It would make some sense," Jarrod said. "If we were related, the fact that we look alike wouldn't be so surprising." He handed the poster back to the sheriff. "I was going to be heading home in a few minutes anyway. I'll ask my mother about it, see if she knows anything. In the meantime, you wire Kansas. Maybe they've caught this guy already and you can stop worrying."

"You're not worried? There's a wanted man running around with your face."

"My face is already known in this part of California," Jarrod said. "People know who I am and they know I've been in California for all of my life."

"Except you do travel east fairly frequently."

"Not to Kansas."

XXXXXXXX

"I think if you had a twin, I'd know it," Victoria said when Jarrod explained the poster to his family.

"I certainly hope so," Jarrod said, "but the picture of this man is amazing. He and I look exactly alike, down to our haircuts."

"I can't wait to get a look at it," Heath said. "But you're right, it's got to be a joke."

"It's a pretty poor joke if it is," Audra said. "Someone who doesn't know Jarrod well might try to arrest him."

Nick looked the most concerned. "Or some bounty hunter might make a grab for him. Jarrod, you need to be watching your back for a while."

"I always watch my back, Nick," Jarrod said.

"What are you wanted for, anyway?" Heath asked.

"I'm not wanted for anything," Jarrod said. "This Jack Darby is wanted for fraud and murder."

"Murder?" Victoria said, and now she was as worried as Nick was.

"Fred's looking into it," Jarrod said. "With luck, it's just somebody's bad joke. If not, well then I have to get things straightened out or tattoo my name on my forehead or something."

"You have scars that will prove who you are," Victoria said, "like that one on your arm where you burned it that Christmas when you were a boy."

"There," Jarrod agreed. "I'm covered."

"If it's somebody's bad joke, I'd like to have at 'em," Nick said.

"No, I'll do that," Jarrod said. "You just keep an eye out and if you happen to see me, call me and if I don't answer – grab this guy and hold onto him."

"That would feel so odd," Audra mused. "I mean, to have someone sort of look like you, that's not very unusual, but to have someone look _exactly_ like you – what are the chances of that?"

"Oh, by the way," Jarrod suddenly remembered, "this guy is supposed to have relatives in Stockton. They couldn't be us, by any chance, could they?"

Victoria shrugged. "Not that I know of, but I have cousins. I suppose this man could be the son of one of them."

"It would be handy if he came riding up to the door," Audra said.

"If he's wanted, he won't be doing that," Heath said.

XXXXXXX

After breakfast in the morning, the family split up to do the things they needed to do that day. Jarrod went back to his office in town, wearing his grey business suit because he had a court appearance scheduled. He made it in without anyone bothering him and stopped by the sheriff's office to touch base before he went to the courthouse.

But the sheriff shook his head. "I haven't heard back from Kansas," he said. "I don't have any idea when this Darby fellow might show up, and I don't have any confirmation that this poster isn't a joke to begin with."

"Well, we'll keep an eye out for him, just to be sure," Jarrod said.

The sheriff looked Jarrod up and down. "I don't suppose you thought much about the suit you were going to wear today."

Jarrod looked at himself. "It's my court suit. I'm due there in fifteen minutes. What's wrong with it?"

"It's the same color as the suit your twin his wearing in this picture."

Jarrod took another look at the photo. "The hat is different. Mine has a bigger brim."

"That's not gonna mean much if there's somebody out there ready to shoot Gentleman Jack Darby."

"Well, I can't change into something else now, and frankly, this is the only suit I have for court. My dark suit always makes me look like I'm going to a funeral – the judges don't like it. I'll be careful."

"Do me a favor and don't wear that one again until we clear this up."

"No choice, Fred, unless we get a tailor in town who can work a lot faster than Mr. Garrett. You're not gonna post this poster around town, are you?"

"No, of course not, at least not until I verify it's real, and then I might have to put it up on my wall. But posting it around – I'm not so sure I'm gonna do that even if we verify everything. But bear in mind, Jarrod – this poster probably went to some other sheriffs in the area, and I don't know what they'll do."

Jarrod frowned. "I know. I think, after I'm through in court, I'll wire my Pinkerton friends in San Francisco and see if they have anything on this Jack Darby. That should answer the question once and for all, if this is a prank or not."

"I'd still rather have Kansas confirm this wanted poster."

"As would I," Jarrod said. "But I'll tell you something. If this does turn out to be a prank, Fred, I'm gonna want my pound of flesh out of whoever is pulling it."

"I'll be happy to help you get it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The day went fine for everyone, as did the next day. No sign of Gentleman Jack Darby and no one taking any shots at Jarrod thinking he was him, bu then they really didn't know when he would show up, if ever. They had no idea when he actually left Kansas, because the sheriff did not get a response from Kansas to the wire he sent there asking for the wanted poster to be verified. He said he'd give it one more day and then wire again, in case Kansas was just slow in getting back to him.

The third day was hot and uncomfortable. "I'll sure be glad to get some good whiskey in me tonight," Nick said as the crested the hill that led home. On top of the heat, it had been a long, rough day, full of little irritating problems that always drove Nick mad.

Heath gave him a laugh. He had his own share of irritations, but he always let them go faster than Nick did. But then he saw something, in the lane up ahead. "Nick – " he said.

Nick saw it, too. A man, lying on his side in the lane. A man in a light grey suit – like the suit Jarrod wore to court.

They rode fast and jumped down. "He couldn't have been here long," Nick said and turned the man over. "Jarrod?"

Heath saw the blood on the man's left side. He pulled the coat back and opened the shirt – and then he looked closer. There was a bullet wound in the man's left side near the back, but, "Nick, this isn't Jarrod."

"What?" He looked at the man's face. It was Jarrod's face.

"Jarrod has those scars from that beating the Basque gave him a few years ago," Heath said. "This man doesn't have any."

Nick quickly pushed up the man's left sleeves. There was no scar where Jarrod had one. "Oh, my gosh, this is that Darby fellow," Nick said.

Heath looked around for a horse but didn't see one. "I wonder what happened and how he got here."

"I can take a guess," Nick said. "Some bounty hunter shot him but he got away and got this far before his fell out of the saddle. We'll probably find his horse up at the house. Come on, let's get him up there."

They got him to the house, and as they carried him in, Victoria and Audra saw them and came running. "Oh, my God, Jarrod – " Victoria said.

"No, Mother, this isn't Jarrod," Heath said. "This is that Darby fellow."

"Are you sure?" Victoria asked.

Nick and Heath began to carry him up the stairs. "He doesn't have Jarrod's scars. Better send somebody for the doctor and get Jarrod home, too. They better tell him there's a bounty hunter around who shoots without asking questions."

"I'll go get somebody," Audra said and hurried out the front door.

Victoria followed Nick and Heath upstairs. They took Darby into the nearest guest room and put him on the bed, where they got him out of his coat and shirt. Heath pulled his boots off, and papers fell out of the lining of one of them. Heath looked them over, saying, "Yeah, this is Darby. Here are his papers, and some pictures and notes. There's so much stuff in here, it's a wonder his foot fit in the boot. Here's a picture of his mother."

Heath handed the photo to Victoria. She looked very closely at it. "This could be my cousin," she said. "I haven't seen her since we were girls. My mother and her siblings had the same chin, that kind of a straight line that Jarrod inherited from their father. The same shape of the eyes. Mr. Darby has them, too."

"You don't have them," Nick said.

"No, they skipped me and went straight to Jarrod." Victoria looked at Darby closely and could scarcely believe her eyes. This man looked exactly like Jarrod. If she didn't know he wasn't her son, even she would have believed he was. Darby, for his part, was completely unconscious and showed no signs of waking up. "He's lost a lot of blood," Victoria said.

Nick had already fetched a towel and was putting pressure on the wound. "That bullet's still in him, too. Let's turn him a bit, Heath, see if we can get gravity working for us."

Audra came up before too long with hot water and fresh towels. "Oh, my heavens," she said when she looked at the man.

Nick took the bowl of water from Audra and set it on the night table. Victoria immediately set about cleaning the wound.

"Jarrod's not going to believe his eyes," Audra said as Victoria worked.

Once she had the wound cleaned, Nick took a clean towel to it and applied pressure. "He's gonna need blood," Nick said. "If he lives to see the doctor."

"I will live," Darby suddenly said, without opening his eyes.

And everyone jumped. Darby had Jarrod's voice as well as his face. For a moment, they thought they'd been mistaken and that this was Jarrod, but Nick looked at the man's left arm again. There was no scar.

Darby opened his eyes and smiled. "It appears I might have made it to where I was going."

Victoria was shaking, the resemblance in the man's eyes and face and voice was so uncanny. "Are you Jack Darby?" she asked.

"The very man," Darby said. "Are you Mrs. Victoria Barkley?"

"I am," Victoria said.

"How did you know who I was?" Darby asked, closing his eyes.

The Barkleys all looked at each other, thinking the same thing – _let us count the ways_. But Victoria decided to keep it simple for now. "Your papers were in your boot."

Darby sighed and groaned. "I am told we are distantly related. I believe you and my dear mother were cousins."

"Who is your mother?" Victoria asked.

"Her maiden name was Elizabeth Curry."

Victoria sighed. "Yes, I do have a cousin by that name."

"Why did you come here, Darby?" Nick asked. "We know there's a wanted on you and I suspect you were shot by a bounty hunter."

Darby looked surprised. "A wanted poster on me? Well, I suppose that explains being shot by someone who did not present himself. I had no idea there was a wanted poster out on me."

"From Kansas."

"Kansas? I don't recall – " Darby started to fade.

Victoria said, "You rest, Mr. Darby. The doctor is being summoned. You'll be safe here until he comes." _And then you'll meet your mirror image, too_, Victoria thought but did not say. She didn't think her patient was ready for another shock right now.

Darby had passed out again anyway.

"Well," Heath said, "this is what I'd call a kettle of fish."

Victoria said, "Nick, Heath, I'd feel better if you headed for town and brought Jarrod home. If there is some bounty hunter who shot this man and he sees Jarrod – "

"We're already with you," Nick said as he and Heath headed out the door.

Audra stood staring at Jack Darby and shaking her head. "It's amazing. He looks like Jarrod. He sounds like Jarrod. If I didn't see he didn't have the scars – "

Victoria nodded. "Even I would have thought he was Jarrod. Let's hope we can keep him alive until the doctor gets here."

XXXXXXX

The doctor arrived before Nick and Heath brought Jarrod home, and when Dr. Merar got a look at his patient, he immediately thought he was looking at Jarrod. "How did this happen, Victoria? Do you know?" he asked.

"We can only assume it was a bounty hunter," Victoria said.

"Bounty hunter?" The doctor moved the towel from the wound – and stopped. He had tended Jarrod several times since Jarrod had been whipped by the Basque. He had even tended those welts when they were fresh, but now they were gone. "Victoria, what – who – "

"This isn't Jarrod," Victoria said. "This man's name is Jack Darby. He's a distant relative."

"You're sure he's not Jarrod's twin?"

Victoria smiled a little. "I think I'd remember that."

"He's lost a lot of blood," Dr. Merar said, shaking his head. "I can't take that bullet out until I get more blood into him."

"Nick and Heath are bringing Jarrod home. They should be here any time."

Dr. Merar just kept shaking his head. "I'd suggest Jarrod give him the transfusion. He's most likely to be compatible. If this doesn't beat all."

"It is remarkable, isn't it? We had to check for scars before we'd believe he wasn't Jarrod."

"You said you think a bounty hunter got him?"

"He's wanted. Fred Madden has a poster on him."

Dr. Merar looked worried. "I hope Jarrod makes it home all right."

"He's home all right," the familiar voice came in through the door with the familiar man. Jarrod went straight to the bed, Nick and Heath behind him. He looked down at Jack Darby, and his eyebrows went up. "Well, I never would have believed it."

"He sounds exactly like you, too," Victoria said.

"I've heard of people looking alike, but not sounding alike," Jarrod said.

Dr. Merar said, "Jarrod, he needs a transfusion and you're the best candidate."

Jarrod took his suit jacket off and handed it to Heath beside him. As he rolled up his sleeve, Nick pulled a chair up behind him, and Jarrod sat down.

"Now, the rest of you go on," Dr. Merar said, "except you, Victoria. If you would, go get some hot water and alcohol and towels. I'll want to get this bullet out as soon as we get some blood in."

Jarrod shook his head as he continued to look at Jack Darby. "I take it the eyes are blue, too."

"As blue as yours," Victoria said. She gave Jarrod a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you're home safe," she said and left the room with Nick and Heath.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was almost an hour later before Jarrod came down to the living room. His siblings were already there sharing drinks before dinner. Nick saw him coming and poured a scotch for him. "You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a little weak," Jarrod said, took the scotch and sat down in his thinking chair.

"How is Mr. Darby doing?" Heath asked.

"The doctor's having a little trouble extracting that bullet," Jarrod said. "It's close to his lung. But Darby's holding up all right."

"Do they need me up there?" Audra asked.

"No, I don't think so," Jarrod said.

"Well, there's that twin brother you always wanted," Nick said and sat down in the other armchair.

"I never wanted a twin brother," Jarrod said. "Having a kid brother was strain enough."

"Now that we got him, what are we gonna do with him?" Heath asked.

"Did anyone tell Fred he was here?" Jarrod asked.

"We didn't see him, so we didn't tell him," Heath said. "If you didn't, then I guess nobody did – unless it's the bounty hunter who shot him."

"Maybe we ought to send somebody in to get Fred out here," Jarrod said.

There was a knock at the front door. Nick got up. "What do you want to bet we're speaking of the devil now?" Nick went to the door, opened it, and found Sheriff Madden there.

The sheriff said, "Word all over town is that Jarrod got shot out here," as he came in.

"No, not me, my look-alike," Jarrod said, wondering how he could have been shot out here when he was widely seen in town, but he just let that go.

Sheriff Madden came into the living room. "Drink, Fred?" Nick asked.

"No, thanks," the sheriff said. "So it's Darby you have out here."

"Shot in the back," Jarrod said. "The doctor's up with him now."

"He's in no shape for me to take him in, then," the sheriff said.

"I'm not even sure he's gonna live, Fred," Jarrod said.

"I guess I'll be expecting a bounty hunter to come in," Sheriff Madden said with a sigh. "Does this guy really look that much like you, Jarrod?"

"Looks and sounds," Nick said as Jarrod was caught in mid-sip on his scotch. "We had to check for scars to make sure it wasn't Jarrod."

Sheriff Madden saw a series of mistaken identity problems go flying thought his mind's eye, if Darby lived and got well enough to get up and around again.

"Have you gotten any more word back from Kansas, Sheriff?" Jarrod asked.

The sheriff heaved a sigh. "Not yet. I just sent another wire off before I came out here. Maybe the first one got lost and I'll get an answer this time."

"Darby is a relative, Sheriff," Heath said. "Our mother and his mother are cousins."

"Does that explain why he's out here, or is he just running from the law in Kansas?"

"He wasn't in any shape to talk about it, Fred," Nick said. "Assuming he survives and comes around, maybe we'll get some answers."

"Given the charges against the man, don't go expecting those answers to be straight answers," the sheriff said. "He may not be your relative at all."

"Considering how much he looks like me," Jarrod said, "it's easy to believe he's telling the truth about that."

"Where does your mother's cousin live?"

"We don't know," Nick said. "She might not even be alive. But when we find out, I expect we'll be sending a wire of our own."

The sheriff nodded and settled a gaze on Jarrod. "Looks and sounds like you, huh?"

"Apparently," Jarrod said.

The sheriff nodded again and turned to head back for the front door. "Are you coming into town tomorrow, Jarrod?"

"I'll stop in at about ten," Jarrod said.

"Better bring somebody to ride shotgun," the sheriff said as Nick saw him to the door. "We don't need you shot in the back too."

Audra looked worried. Heath looked wary. Jarrod just gave a big sigh and said, "No, we do not."

XXXXXXXX

Jarrod watched the man sleep in that laudanum induced stupor Dr. Merar liked to put people in when he expected a lot of pain. Nick had stayed with the man for a few hours after dinner, then Heath, and now that morning was coming on, it was Jarrod's turn. He sat in the same chair beside the bed that he'd sat in while giving blood, only now he was reading a book and trying not to nod off. Fortunately, he was awake when he heard a soft groan coming from the bed. He put the book aside and turned the lamplight up a bit in time to see a set of blue eyes open.

Good Lord, even his eyes were the same color. Jarrod hadn't been sure how he'd react once Darby woke up and the two of them looked at each other for the first time, but now that it was happening, Jarrod could only smile. Darby, on the other hand, blinked, looked twice, and looked startled. "Oh, my word – " he said.

Darby hadn't known he had a twin, so he wasn't at all expecting what he was seeing. Jarrod said, "You're awake, and you're not crazy. We do look exactly alike. I'm Jarrod Barkley, and I hear I'm your cousin."

"Well," Darby said, "for a moment there I thought I had died and met myself in heaven." His mouth was dry and stuck together. "Could I have some water, please?"

Jarrod fetched a glass from the dresser. He helped Darby sit up slightly. "Don't try to move around too much," Jarrod said. "You've had a lot of surgery getting that bullet removed and the bleeding controlled. You don't want to open things up again."

Darby sipped the water and then lay back down. "Thank you, Cousin," he said. "I knew who I was looking for, but I never knew I'd find myself."

"Why did you come here, Jack – is it all right if I call you Jack?"

"Certainly," Darby said. "May I call you Jarrod?"

"Certainly," Jarrod said in response. "Why did you come looking for us?"

"My darling mother has passed away," Darby said. "She often mentioned her dear cousin Victoria and her family here in California, and I thought it was time I visited your lovely part of the country."

Jarrod wondered whether to say what he was tempted to say next. He soft-pedaled it. "Do you know what happened to you?"

"I believe someone shot me," Darby said. "I heard the shot. I felt the pain. But I never saw who it was who held so much against me in a place I've never been before. Did he think he was shooting you?"

Now, that was an angle Jarrod hadn't thought about. Maybe it wasn't a bounty hunter who shot Darby, but someone after Jarrod himself who shot the wrong man. "We don't know who shot you. We were thinking it might have been a bounty hunter."

Darby's eyes opened wider. "Bounty hunter? There's no bounty on me that I'm aware of."

"Apparently there is," Jarrod said. "In Kansas."

"Kansas?" Darby's face screwed up as he thought about it. "I left Kansas weeks ago without a stain on my reputation, as I recall."

"You picked up a stain somewhere," Jarrod said. "Our sheriff has a wanted poster on you. He's still trying to track things down about it. We might know more about it today, but for now and for the foreseeable future, you're going to be our guest. You, cousin, will be laid up for a while."

"Oh," Darby said, sincerely disappointed. "That is unfortunate."

"Do you have somewhere else to be?"

Darby hesitated, and then smiled. "I had planned on seeing more of your fair state and winning some of your fair money. I gamble for my living."

"Nowhere in particular you wanted to be though?"

"No. But certainly not here in a bed for any length of time, though I suppose I had better get used to the idea. I guess a trip to the wc is out of the question."

Jarrod smiled and said, "Bedpan, cousin."

Darby groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After he got breakfast on the table, Silas came up to sit with Darby, who had gone back to sleep. Jarrod went down to breakfast, the last to sit down at the table, saying, "Our guest woke up for a little while."

"Thank goodness," Victoria said. "What did he have to say?"

"Not too much," Jarrod said. "It seems his beloved mother has passed away and he came out here to see us, her cousins. And to win away some of our neighbors' money playing poker. It seems Mr. Darby is a professional gambler."

"That might explain why he's in trouble for fraud," Nick said.

"But it doesn't explain murder," Heath said. "Did he have anything to say about that?"

"Only that he left Kansas 'without a stain on his reputation,'" Jarrod said. "I told him he picked up a stain somewhere."

"What do you think?" Victoria asked. "Is he being honest about that?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "He sounds convincing enough, but then a good con man would, and if Mr. Darby is guilty of fraud, then a good con man he would be."

Audra shook her head. "He might not be a con man." Everyone looked at her suspiciously. Audra was prone to be forgiving, even before forgiveness was earned. She noticed their skepticism. She said, "But we're going to have to be very careful around him in case he is."

"Indeed we are," Jarrod said, "aside from the fact that some bounty hunter is trying to kill him. I wonder why the bounty hunter didn't just pick him up out of the road after he shot him."

"Probably heard us coming," Nick said.

"Did you hear a shot?"

"No, actually, we didn't," Nick said.

Heath said, "We don't know how long it was or how far he rode after he was shot. There might not have been anything for us to hear."

"Which makes all of this even a little more unsettling," Nick added.

"Well, I'll add something to unsettle everyone even more than that," Jarrod said. "Something Mr. Darby pointed out. Whoever said the shooter was shooting at him?"

Everyone looked puzzled, but Heath said, "Maybe the shooter thought he was shooting you."

Jarrod nodded.

The realization, and the worry, went right around the table. Victoria said, "I think someone should go into town with you, Jarrod."

"I'll ride along," Nick said. "I need to go to the bank anyway."

"And who will escort me home?" Jarrod asked. "I really can't go riding around with a guard all the time on the off-chance that it wasn't a bounty hunter after Darby but someone after me."

"Have you had any threats lately?" Nick asked.

"Not a one," Jarrod said.

"Nobody said a shooter has to make a threat before he shoots," Heath said. "And nobody said a bounty hunter had to verify he was shooting Darby and not you before he fired the gun."

"All right, I'll take a guard for a couple days," Jarrod said, realizing that Heath was right.

"I'll send somebody to get to your office at about four," Nick said.

Jarrod nodded. "We have a plan."

XXXXXXX

Later that morning, the sheriff came into Jarrod's office, carrying a telegram, breathing a big sigh as he said, "Well, the poster from Kansas is legitimate, but it's been withdrawn. Darby's not wanted anymore."

The sheriff gave Jarrod the telegram, and Jarrod read it. "It doesn't say why."

"No. I'll wire back and ask for something explaining everything. But when your cousin recovers, he's free to go. Except, of course, there still exists a problem."

Jarrod nodded. "Once these things are out there, it takes a while for the bounty hunters to catch up if they're withdrawn. And Jack brought up another aspect to this I hadn't thought about. What if someone shot him thinking he was me?"

Sheriff Madden stood up straight, surprised. "I hadn't thought about that either. Have you gotten any threats lately?"

"No," Jarrod said. "And nobody's warned me about somebody being released from prison who might be after me either. But, of course, men with an axe to grind don't always advertise the fact."

"Have you heard from Pinkerton about Darby yet?"

"No, but I figure it will take them a few days anyway."

"How long is this Darby going to be laid up?"

"Ten days to two weeks, I'd say," Jarrod said, "but the doctor didn't say much yesterday other than to keep him in bed."

"Maybe we'll be able to straighten this all out by the time he's up and around. At least the bounty hunters might have gotten the word there's no bounty to collect and they'll leave you alone."

"You mean him."

"I mean both of you. You're interchangeable, remember? He could be shot for you, or you could be shot for him, or either one of you could be shot for your own self."

Jarrod frowned. "Maybe the thing to do is tell him 'thanks for the visit' and get him out of here as soon as he's able to travel. He'd like San Francisco."

"Remember who he is, Jarrod. Wanted or not, he's a con man. Do you want him out of your sight in San Francisco, impersonating you?"

Jarrod moaned, got up, and started pacing. "This is turning out to be more complicated that I thought when I got my first look at him."

"Did he tell you what he does for a living?"

"He's a gambler." Jarrod said that as if he had little or no respect for the profession, because he had next to none.

"Did he say why he came out here?"

"Oh, his mother died and he wanted to visit her relatives and he wanted to visit California and 'win some of our fair money,' as he put it."

"He didn't say anything about winning that money honestly, did he?"

"No, and frankly, now that I really think about it, I didn't get a great sense of honesty about him, the little bit we talked. It was like talking to myself if I had turned into a rogue and not a lawyer. So I guess between his profession and how my gut feels, we do have reason to think we don't need him around."

"I'd definitely keep an eye on him, as best you can. Then as soon as you can I'd send him on his way with some pretty stern warnings about all the friends you have in the law enforcement business."

Jarrod nodded, resignedly. "In the meantime, Fred, I'd appreciate it if you keep your eyes and ears open about anybody who might be after me. Darby had a point."

"I agree," the sheriff said, and he started to leave but turned back. "You be sure to let me know when you cut Darby loose. I can't keep him from plying his trade, but I can keep an eye on him if he tries it in Stockton."

Jarrod gave him a nod.

XXXXXXX

Darby was awake and feeling more like himself again, even if weak from his ordeal. He managed to entertain himself with a book Audra brought him, although he had to perch it on his stomach because he had to stay flat. Raising his arms to steady it and turn the pages wasn't helping the muscle damaged by the bullet, either, so he only read in short spurts. Fortunately, he was not a man who was bored easily. He could entertain himself if he had to by running poker games and plays through his mind. Pre-planning always helped to sharpen the skills.

When Audra came in to bring him some broth for lunch, she gave him a smile. Never one to turn away from the smile of a lovely woman, Darby gave her one of his own along with a twinkling of those blue eyes. Audra fell for the smile and the eyes pretty quickly, but then she had fallen for Jarrod's years ago and these were just like his.

"It's uncanny, how much you look like my brother," she said as she put the tray on the dresser and brought the bowl of broth and the spoon to him. She sat down on the edge of the bed to feed him.

He didn't mind being fed, and he didn't mind her sitting there, either. The attentions and the closeness of a beautiful woman were things he always tried to cultivate. "I do get the feeling that the physical resemblance is all there is," Darby said. "I believe we are quite different, temperamentally."

"Yes, you are," Audra said and fed him the first spoonful. "Although you have similarities."

"Such as?" Darby asked.

Audra fed him again. "You are both quite elegant. You look and act like you were born in formal wear. You both have a love for words and a charming way with women."

"It's flattering of you to say so," Darby said.

Audra fed him one more time. "You, however, have more of the devil in you."

"I?"

"You and that feigned indignation there," Audra said. "You know you have a wicked streak and you love it."

"I'm not so sure I appreciate that you picked up on that so quickly," Darby said. "We haven't spent more than half an hour together so far."

"There is that arrest warrant out on you. It includes fraud."

"A blatant misunderstanding that I am certain will be rectified momentarily," Darby said.

Audra gave him another spoonful and had to laugh. His choice of words always seemed to reflect that streak of wickedness that was so obvious, but it also fed that charming streak. "Well, Gentleman Jack, if it does turn out to be a misunderstanding, I suspect you will be back in trouble five minutes after you get out of this bed."

The blue eyes twinkled. He almost said, "or sooner," but he decided not to tempt the slap he'd get across the face. Even Jack Darby knew that you didn't get too fresh with a young girl with a lot of class, especially when she had control of your food supply. And she was a cousin, even if a distant one. Jack Darby decided he'd behave himself, at least for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"How's our houseguest?" Jarrod asked as soon as he came in that evening.

"He slept most of the day," Victoria said. She was sitting on the settee and drinking a glass of wine. "Audra is up there feeding him some broth right now but she says he's itching for solid food, so it looks like he's coming along. Did you find out anything more about him today?"

Jarrod headed for the refreshment table and some scotch. "Only that he's not wanted anymore. That wanted poster has been rescinded."

"Thank heaven for that."

"It'll take a while for the bounty hunters to catch up with it," Jarrod said, coming away from the refreshment table to give his mother a kiss. "I got word from Pinkerton just before I left that they'd have a dossier on him on the noon train tomorrow for me."

"A dossier?"

Jarrod nodded. "That would indicate that there's a lot to be had on our cousin. Are Nick and Heath in yet?"

"They're cleaning up. Do you think it's all right for Audra to be caring for him on her own?"

"I don't know of any reason why not, at least not yet," Jarrod said. "He's pretty incapacitated, and they are in our home."

"The state he's in, Audra could take him four falls out of five," Nick's voice said as the middle son came down the stairs. "I just looked in on them. They're fine."

"I don't know if you heard me tell mother, the wanted poster has been recalled," Jarrod said. "Mr. Darby is not wanted in Kansas or anywhere else I know of at the moment."

"That's good to know, but did I hear you say you had something coming from Pinkerton tomorrow?"

Jarrod nodded. "A dossier."

"That doesn't sound good." Now it was Heath's voice coming with him from the stairs.

"Why don't we reserve judgment until we see how thick the dossier is and what it says?" Victoria said.

"And if there are any other wanted posters in it," Jarrod said. Then he sighed. "I have to admit. I don't like the idea of a man with my face running around getting wanted posters out on him. Putting aside the chance that I might get shot by some bounty hunter, this could complicate my standing with the bar. They don't like lawyers having their pictures on wanted posters."

"You should be able to clear it up, shouldn't you?" Victoria asked.

"I should," Jarrod said, "but it's a mess I'd rather not have to mess with."

"This might have been going on for a while, Jarrod," Heath said.

"Yes, but apparently it's been going on in the Midwest," Jarrod said. "This is Mr. Darby's first trip to California, as far as I can tell. I certainly haven't had anybody confuse me with him yet, and I've gotten around quite a bit."

Nick sat down in the armchair beside Jarrod's. "Putting all that aside, it's got to be unsettling to look at a stranger and see your own face."

"I admit, it is," Jarrod said. "And you all tell me we sound alike, too."

"You do," Victoria said. "It's so strange, it makes me wonder if I did have twins and just didn't know it."

Jarrod chuckled, aware by her smile that she was only kidding. "If you did, I'm glad I'm the one you kept."

Audra came down the stairs then, carrying a tray with an empty bowl on it, saying, "Jarrod, Mr. Darby asked to see you when you came in."

Jarrod put his drink down on the coffee table and got up. "Good. I want to see him, too."

Jarrod hustled up the stairs and in a few moments was joining his alter ego in the guest room. Darby was awake, but still lying flat in bed.

"Good news, Jack," Jarrod said right away. "The wanted poster from Kansas has been recalled. By the time you're up and around, the bounty hunters may have lost interest in you."

"Excellent news," Darby said as Jarrod pulled up a chair and sat down. "Not that I was worried. As I said, I left Kansas without a stain on my name."

Jarrod decided he wasn't going to tell Darby about contacting Pinkerton, at least not until he saw what Pinkerton sent him. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, actually," Darby said. "Sore, but not like I just had a bullet removed from a vital spot in my anatomy. I was wondering, Cousin, what might have become of my horse."

"I'm afraid your horse has gone missing," Jarrod said. "We were hoping it would just come here after it dumped you in the road, but it didn't. I suspect somebody somewhere found it and picked it up. Did you have anything valuable with it?"

"No. I keep valuable papers in my boot – as you already know. I did have some money, and clean shirts and underwear in the saddlebag, however. At some point, I will want to be dressed again."

"Your suit is in the chifferobe over there, although there is a hole in your jacket that you won't like and it had some bloodstains on the lining. Your shirt was quite blood-stained. We got rid of it."

"Could you fetch my jacket for me?" Darby asked.

Jarrod got up and brought the jacket to Darby, who fumbled his way into the lining and came out with a thousand dollar bill. "A little piece of good advice I learned from an acquaintance," he said. "Always keep some mad money in the lining of your coat. Is there a safe in which I might ask you to keep this for me until I have a new suit of clothes?"

Jarrod took the money and put it into his pocket. "I'll lock it up in the safe in the library," he said. "And as for clothes, you'll obviously fit into mine. When you're ready to be up and around, we'll get you suited up until you can visit a tailor on your own."

"Much obliged, Cousin," Darby said. "Do we have any idea when that might be – that I'll be up and around?"

Jarrod laughed. "You've got a ways to go on that, Jack. You were hurt pretty bad. Besides, you do want to give the bounty hunters time to catch up with the wanted poster being recalled."

"Yes, of course," Darby said. "I do regret the inconvenience of my convalescence, though. I had not intended to be your guest at all. I only intended a short afternoon visit."

"Life is always interfering with our plans, isn't it? What else can I do for you, Jack?"

Darby glanced at the night table and saw he had water. "I suppose I am in good shape except – I will need that bedpan."

Jarrod smiled. "Coming right up."

XXXXXXX

Jarrod agreed on an escort in and out of town the next day, but declined to have someone with him all day. He felt pretty safe that no one was going to take a shot at him on the street in Stockton, so he went about his business as usual. That business, on this day, included going to the train depot to get the dossier Pinkerton was sending on the noon train. He arrived just before the train pulled out again and found his package waiting for him at the depot office.

It was fairly hefty. Jarrod thought _uh-oh_ as he picked it up and walked back to his office. He had suspected that the wanted poster that had been withdrawn did not represent Jack Darby's only brush with the law, and when he got to his office and opened the package, he immediately found his suspicions were right.

There were copies of five wanted posters – every single one of them marked "rescinded." Jarrod's interest was piqued. How could a man be wanted five times and every one of them turned out to be erroneous? There were several reports, with dates as early as a dozen years ago, and once he started reviewing them, Jarrod got some answers to his questions.

Jack Darby had been a gambler since he was discharged from the Confederate army at the end of the war. The reports followed Darby all over the South and the Midwest, from the Dakotas down to New Orleans and up and down the Mississippi. One of the wanted posters involved embezzlement, but that one had been withdrawn fairly quickly with a notation that someone else had confessed. The other posters involved shootings at card games, and they all were noted withdrawn due to determination of self-defense. The reports noted a couple trials on assault charges that had resulted in Darby's acquittal. There were reports on three fraud charges, one of them resulting in a trial in which Darby was acquitted yet again. In the other two, the complaints were withdrawn – Jarrod wondered if a pay-off had been involved. The file had photographs of Darby through the years, described his being born to Ian Darby and Elizabeth Curry Darby of Louisville, Kentucky in 1843, father died in 1855 and mother only a few months ago. No siblings noted. One application for a loan in Kentucky after the war that was denied.

Jarrod sighed. Darby was not as pure as the driven snow, but he was darned lucky in all the legal scrapes he'd gotten into over the years. Either lucky or he was darned good at covering his tracks or making restitutions that got him off the hook.

Jarrod turned to look out his window as he thought about what he had read. He wondered what kind of trouble Darby might have gotten into recently that wasn't reflected in this file. Had he really been shot by a bounty hunter, or was there a chance that someone was after him for something he'd done to them personally? That was an angle Jarrod hadn't thought much about yet, but with all these scrapes Darby had wormed his way out of, wasn't it likely that a grudge or two was still being nursed somewhere, or he'd gotten into something on his way to Stockton that had come back to haunt him already?

With a moan, Jarrod turned back around to his desk, put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. This was getting tough on the brain.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was the next morning before Jarrod approached Darby again, figuring what they had to talk about was going to take too long for the end of the day. Jarrod had not discussed the Pinkerton information in detail with his family, wanting to talk to Darby about it first. The most he was willing to say at dinner was, "Yes, it is extensive, I'll talk to him about it tomorrow," and everyone left him alone about it then.

So, an hour or so after breakfast, Jarrod carried the dossier up to Darby's room. Audra had told him he was sitting up now, feeling stronger and suffering less pain, so Jarrod was not surprised to see him more awake and attentive than he had been when Jarrod last saw him two days earlier.

"Good, you're looking better," Jarrod said and pulled up a chair. He plopped the dossier down on his lap, drawing Darby's attention.

Darby just smiled, pointing. "May I assume that's all about me?"

"You may," Jarrod said. "I thought we might have a little chat while I still have you as a captive audience."

"And where might have you obtained all this information?" Darby asked.

"I have my sources," Jarrod said. "Sit back, relax, Jack. This is going to take a while."

"Let me start the ball rolling," Darby said. "Yes, I have seen my name on several wanted posters before, all of them rescinded at some point, I might add. I have had my share of fraud charges and assault charges and even a murder charge or two, but I have either been acquitted or the charges have been withdrawn in every case. I believe you have found that there are no active charges against me from anywhere at this time – am I correct?"

"You are," Jarrod said, "but that doesn't stop me from being concerned. How many of these charges did you buy your way out of?"

Darby looked stunned. "Cousin Jarrod, I am hurt."

"Don't pull that on me, Jack," Jarrod said. "You're not even that good at feigning indignation – though quite frankly I don't think you're even trying to be good at it. Just tell me the truth. What would have stuck if you hadn't paid your way out of it?"

"Nothing serious," Darby said. "Fraud charges for which I repaid what I was supposed to have swindled out of a couple different men in a couple different states, but I never admitted to the fraud and I still don't. Perhaps I walk the line a bit too closely, but I am not a criminal, Counselor. I am simply the handy scapegoat. Professional gamblers often are."

"What kind of charges are reflected in here?" Jarrod asked.

"Until I see what you have there, how can I answer that question?"

"Have you ever out and out stolen anything? Money, by any chance?"

Darby opened his mouth to answer, then smiled. "I may have picked the pocket of a friend or two, but there's nothing I haven't restored to its rightful owner sooner or later."

Jarrod leveled a serious gaze on his cousin. "Who might be after you on a grudge, Jack?"

"To kill me? No one, I hope."

"Answer the question, Darby." Jarrod was more serious.

"You believe I may have been shot by someone other than a bounty hunter," Darby deduced.

"You may have been shot by a bounty hunter, or by someone with a grudge, or by someone who thought you were me," Jarrod said. "There are just too many candidates who might have done the deed. What I'm trying to decide, Darby, is just how much trouble having you around is going to be."

Now Darby looked even more hurt. "Cousin Jarrod, if you want me to leave, I'll take up my pallet and go now."

"Oh, come on, Jack, don't play the victim with me," Jarrod said. "You wouldn't make it down the stairs. You're here until the doctor says you can move on. What I'm trying to decide is how much protection you need and how much I need because somebody might think I'm you."

"Well," Darby said with a sigh. "If I knew who was after me, Cousin Jarrod, I would tell you, but I'm afraid I'm as much in the dark as you are, and I am being perfectly honest with you about that. Perfectly."

Jarrod eyed him, and got an itch. "Jack, why did you come to California, really?"

"To visit my beloved mother's family," Darby said.

"Our mothers may have been cousins, but they weren't all that close. You're up to something. What is it?"

"Simply fresh game, Cousin," Darby said. "To win away some of California's money. I have every intention of making my way to San Francisco and then taking a lovely excursion by boat around the Cape and back to New Orleans."

Jarrod could almost believe him this time. Almost, but not quite, and he did remember something Sheriff Madden said about Darby running around San Francisco impersonating him. "Darby, if I find out you're here to get away from someone who's after you and you've known who it is all along, I will find something to pin on you even if I have to get creative about it."

"Jail, Cousin? Are you threatening me with prison?"

"I am just impressing upon you the importance of telling me the truth. How about it, Jack? Is there anyone out there whose name I should know?"

"In all sincerity, no. Not one person I can think of who would want me dead. I suggest you look for the bounty hunters, or for whoever might be after you."

Jarrod was a little closer to believing him, although he didn't like it. He really didn't want to keep taking a guard in and out of Stockton every day. Jarrod was pretty certain no one was after him, but he decided it might be worth checking out further. A wire to San Quentin about who might have been released might be in order. As far as bounty hunters went, none had yet talked to the sheriff about Darby, but then someone who might have shot him and lost him wouldn't be talking to the sheriff anyway. They'd want a body to turn in for the reward.

"All right, Jack," Jarrod ended up saying. "I'll keep checking into things. You keep getting well."

"I would like nothing better," Darby said.

XXXXXXXX

Jarrod talked things over with his brothers in the library when they got in from the range late that afternoon. He told them the things Darby had said, and then he finished up with, "I find myself in a unique position. I've heard everything he had to say, and I don't know what to believe and what not to believe. But nobody gets into as much trouble as he has and gets out of _all_ of it."

"Well, I haven't talked to him much," Heath said, "but it seems to me a man with the kind of background Pinkerton says he has ought to be suspect with just about everything he says."

"I agree with Heath," Nick said. "He might know good and well who's after him and still deny it on a stack of bibles."

"That's the problem," Jarrod agreed. "The only thing we know is true is that he's in no shape for us to turn him out, not yet anyway."

"Is there any way we can find out who's after him?" Heath asked. "I mean, assuming it's someone after him and not after you."

"I'll be checking around to see if it's someone after me tomorrow," Jarrod said. "I'll wire San Quentin and see if anybody to worry about has been released lately."

"Men inside can hire men outside, Jarrod," Nick said.

"I know," Jarrod said, "but that's practically impossible to detect until someone making the hit carries it out, and then most hired killers are never caught. I'll ask the warden about anything suspicious like that, too."

"I take it you don't have any feeling one way or the other," Heath said.

"Whether it's someone after me instead of after Darby?" Jarrod said. "No, I don't have any feeling at all. This one really baffles me, and part of the reason is that silver-tongued devil of a cousin of ours."

"Are we sure he's our cousin?" Nick asked.

"According to Pinkerton, he is," Jarrod said. "Son of Elizabeth Curry Darby, just like he said he was."

"How about that?" Heath said. "He's told one truth."

Jarrod and Nick both had to chuckle. "The hard part is figuring out if anything else he's said is true," Jarrod said.

"Well, here's an idea," Heath said. "Why don't Nick and I go into town and play some poker tomorrow after dinner? Let's see if anybody in the game can tell us about Jack Darby. If somebody's here who's been following him and is after him, he might be a poker player too."

"It's a long shot," Jarrod said.

"We'll double our chances if Heath and I hit separate saloons," Nick said.

"And if we go back the night after, too."

"I like it better than my idea," Jarrod said.

"What's that?" Nick asked.

"I impersonate Darby and go play some poker myself."

"Oh, no, no, no," Nick objected right away. "We're trying to save your butt, not hang it out for everybody to see."

Jarrod said, "Not a pretty sight, I'll grant you. We'll try your way first, but don't get your hopes up."

"Maybe at least we can eliminate some possibilities," Heath said.

Jarrod nodded. "Maybe."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The poker idea didn't work. Two nights of poker, four different saloons, and Nick and Heath didn't run into anybody they didn't already know. Worse yet, luck was not with them and they lost money.

"Thanks for trying," Jarrod said the night they came home from the second outing, "but it was a long shot."

"What do you want to do now, Jarrod?" Heath asked.

"I got a wire from the warden at San Quentin," Jarrod said. "Nobody's been released who's ever threatened me. That doesn't mean it couldn't be someone who's after me and not Darby, but it makes it a lot less likely."

"Even if it is Darby somebody's after, you could still be taken for him," Nick reminded him.

"Yes, but you haven't seen any strangers around, and practically everybody in Stockton is used to seeing me. And nobody's taken a shot at me since Darby went down. Maybe it was just a bounty hunter who found out the reward's been rescinded. Maybe I'll give up the guard when I ride into town and see what happens."

"Good God, Jarrod – setting yourself up like that is crazy," Nick objected.

"I said I'd give up the guard," Jarrod said. "I didn't say I wouldn't accept somebody following along at a distance to see if anyone comes after me."

"That could still get you killed," Heath said. "Are you ready to die for Jack Darby?"

The way Heath put that made Jarrod rethink for a moment, but then he said, "I don't know of any better way to flush somebody out."

"I do," Nick said. "Wait until Darby gets better then send him on his way. He can play the target."

Jarrod didn't like setting Darby up either. "Aw, Nick. That's just getting him killed instead of me."

"I prefer that," Nick said.

"I don't think I could live with it. But look, anybody can shoot me out of the saddle even with a guard beside me, and nobody's tried. I don't think anybody's going to try."

"That's a helluva gamble, Jarrod," Nick said.

"When's the doctor due back to look at Darby?" Jarrod asked.

"Tomorrow, I think," Heath said.

"Let's see how long he thinks it'll take for Darby to be able to travel," Jarrod suggested.

"Here's a thought," Heath abruptly said. "What if nobody's after him, but he's after somebody?"

"Somebody who got him first," Nick said.

"No, no," Jarrod said, and wondered if he was just blowing this thought off because he really didn't want to add another possible angle to this mess. "That's really stretching."

"Maybe I ought to just go up and have a talk with Mr. Darby," Nick suggested.

"What are you gonna do? Beat up a man who's already in bed?" Jarrod asked.

"I can threaten."

"I already did. I told him I'd find something to stick him in prison with."

Nick and Heath looked at each other with raised eyebrows. For Pappy to say he'd do something that unethical and illegal – "He's really getting to all of us," Heath said. "Except maybe Audra."

"Audra?" Jarrod said.

"He's charming her up one side and down the other," Heath said.

"I better have a talk with her," Jarrod said.

"No, I think we best leave Audra and Darby to Mother," Heath said. "If I read things right, Mother has already talked to her about it or is about to."

"What makes you say that?"

"A look I caught on Mother's face when Audra took him his dinner tonight. She'll straighten things out. I think we best keep dealing with whoever's trying to shoot whoever."

"Well," Nick said, "what other ideas do we have here?"

"None," Jarrod said. "I'll keep up with the guard for a few more days. We'll see what Dr. Merar says the next time he sees Darby, and we'll just keep our eyes open for strangers in town that might look suspicious. And I'll keep poking at Darby to see if something might come squirming out."

"Then when Darby is well enough, we'll show him the door," Nick said.

Jarrod and Heath both nodded. But Heath said, "I'd like to be the one to do it." When Jarrod and Nick both looked at him curiously, Heath said, "I'm not a blood relative."

"What's that got to do with it?" Nick asked.

"Darby seems to think something of family connections. Not being blood, I can maybe get away with leaning on him harder," Heath said. "He might believe I'd make life a lot harder for him than you would."

Nick shrugged and said, "He's got a point."

Jarrod said, "All right, Heath, my boy. He's all yours."

XXXXXXXX

Heath was right, that he had seen something in Victoria's face when Audra took Darby's dinner to him. The next morning Victoria said to her daughter, "I think I'll take Mr. Darby his food today."

"Oh?" Audra asked, and saw the same look. "Is something wrong?"

"He's a charming man, Audra," Victoria said plainly, "but you know your brothers are concerned about what's really behind that charm."

"Oh, Mother, I know he's full of himself," Audra said. "I think a lot of it is phony."

"Yes, but perhaps not in the same way the rest of us see it as phony."

"What do you mean?"

"He has a way of being manipulative, Audra. From those photos and notes among his papers, it looks like he's particularly manipulative with women. His charm isn't phony in the sense that it's masking anything. He's using it to get what he wants."

So, it was Victoria who took Darby's breakfast up to him. He was looking better, had more color to his face and sparkle to his eyes. He was even able to pull himself up in the bed, despite the still sore back.

"Well, you're moving around better than I thought you'd be," Victoria said.

Darby gave her one of his charming smiles. "I am doing better every day, my dear cousin. I have always healed up very quickly when injured."

Victoria put the tray down on his lap. "The doctor will be by before very long. Maybe we can get you into a chair today."

"That would be lovely," Darby said and sipped at his coffee.

Victoria sat down on the chair beside the bed. "Have you thought about what you want to do after you recover?"

"What I always intended to do in the first place," Darby said. "Continue my tour of California and its poker tables."

Victoria smiled. "You know, your situation has us all baffled, wondering who could have shot you and why. And worried that it might have been Jarrod they were really after."

Darby actually looked concerned for a moment. "For the most part, I am a man who is primarily concerned with his own welfare, but I do hope that no one is after Cousin Jarrod."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Victoria said, "but I have the feeling that if the person who shot you was really after you, it wouldn't be the first time for you either."

"No, sadly, it would not be."

"Jarrod has told me a bit about your background, from the report he got on you and from talking with you. Now, your mother and I were just girls together. I never knew her as an adult. But I find it difficult to understand how a son of hers could turn out to be as errant as you've become."

Victoria knew she was being blunt. It didn't bother her one bit, but for a moment, it actually looked like it bothered Darby. For a moment, he looked to Victoria like a man who had disappointed his beloved mother and knew it. "I suppose I am more like my father in temperament," Darby said. "My sainted mother loved me dearly, and she loved my father dearly, but she never quite – " He didn't seem to know how to finish the sentence.

Victoria gave him a small smile.

And Darby went back to his charming self. "I suppose my mother loved me enough to overlook my many flaws."

"At least you admit you have flaws," Victoria said.

"Indeed I do," Darby said. "I like to think they enhance my charm."

Victoria saw an opening. "My daughter Audra has adored her brothers all of her life. She has a special bond with Jarrod, because she was so young when her father died, and Jarrod was old enough to help me raise her after that. To her, he is part big brother, part father. And I think because you resemble him so much, she is seeing you through rose-colored glasses."

Darby had been sipping coffee while she said that. He hesitated, and then put the cup down. "I am a man who has always appreciated my appeal to the fairer sex."

"And used it effectively, I'm sure," Victoria said. Then her eyes grew serious. "Just be very careful how you use it with my daughter, Mr. Darby."

"The threat is not so thinly veiled, Mrs. Barkley," Darby said. "I will treat Audra more carefully, as you request."

"Good," Victoria said, getting up. "You enjoy your breakfast, and I'll be back later to collect your tray."

Darby watched her go, and when he was alone, the charm slipped out of his twinkling blue eyes. Now and then, he had to face who he really was, and this was one of those times. "Well, Jack," he said out loud to himself. "You best watch your p's and q's around the womenfolk. As effective as your charm may be, it might get you into more trouble than you want around here."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The doctor came, examined Darby, and allowed him to sit up in a chair for a few hours a day. If he tolerated that well over the day or two, he could begin to walk himself down the hall to the wc and spend more time in the chair. Darby followed directions obediently, and when the doctor returned four days later, he was pleased with his patient's progress. He told Darby and Victoria that Darby could get dressed and come downstairs, and if he continued to do as well as he was doing, he could venture outside in another two or three days.

Darby's shirt had been disposed of, and the jacket with the hole in it and bloodstains on the lining were not to Darby's liking, but his pants, boots, undershorts and socks were fine. Darby borrowed one of Jarrod's shirts, dressed himself, and came downstairs not an hour after the doctor approved it.

"Well," Audra said, smiling, "now you're looking a lot better."

"I do feel a bit exposed without my coat," Darby said. "I'm not used to running around in my shirtsleeves, but a new suit will have to wait for a while, I'm afraid."

"I'm sure Jarrod will lend you a coat until you can get another one."

"Jarrod has already seen the tailor about a new suit for himself," Victoria said. "He said he'd be happy to hand you down what he calls his court suit. It's the same color as your damaged one."

"At least we can be reasonably sure it will fit. I can have a new suit made for myself when I get to San Francisco," Darby said. Then he took a deep breath and looked all around the foyer and the living room. "I've been wondering what this lovely house looked like. I was not awake when I was carried up to that bedroom, so I had no idea. This is quite luxurious. Much like some of the finer homes in New Orleans I've visited."

"My husband patterned it after a home there he visited when he was a young man," Victoria said.

"Let me show you around," Audra said.

"I'll see to lunch," Victoria said, giving Darby a look that reminded him to be on good behavior.

Darby bowed slightly, affirming he got the message.

Audra took him from room to room, lingering in the library when Darby's face lit up at the sight of the pool table. "I have tried my hand at billiards, but alas, it is not the game for me," Darby said. Someone had left the cue ball on the table top and he rolled it around, letting it hit the far bumper and roll back to him.

"My brothers enjoy playing, but they keep the betting low," Audra said. "None of them is going to make a living out of this game either."

Darby wandered over to the French doors, pulled the curtain aside slightly, and looked outside. "I will be very happy when I can sit a horse again and can look around your property more completely," he said.

"I'm sorry we were never able to locate your horse," Audra said.

"As am I," Darby said and came back into the room, "but my unfortunate injury has forced me into a change of plans anyway. I will not be able to make the grand tour of California that I'd hoped. When I leave here, I believe I will take the train to San Francisco, visit that fair city for a few days and then take a boat back to New Orleans."

"A train would be much faster," Audra said.

"I'm sure it would, but a long, leisurely trip around Cape Horn is something I promised myself many years ago. I hope to earn enough money in San Francisco to pay for the trip, and if I don't, maybe I will make enough to pay for the train. How about you, Audra? Have you never had the urge to go on a long sea voyage?"

"Oh, I've been to Europe," Audra said.

"Really?"

"Yes. Two years ago, my family sent me to Rome and Paris."

"Rome and Paris? Two cities I have also promised myself to see, but alas, I have never been able to procure the funds."

Audra unexpectedly chuckled a little.

"Have I said something funny?" Darby asked.

"It's not what you say – it's how you say it," Audra said. "Most men would simply say 'I never had the money.'"

"Oh," Darby said, understanding. "Well, I have often been accused of using ten words when one would do. It's part of my southern upbringing, I'm afraid. We treasure language in Kentucky."

"Oh, we do too," Audra said. "We just don't spend so much of what we treasure."

Darby laughed, and he sounded so much like Jarrod that Audra could only shake her head now. "Have I done it again?" Darby asked.

"No," Audra said. "It's just that if you didn't use language the way you did, I would swear you were Jarrod. He does use the language more than most, but not as much as you do."

"There must be other ways you can tell us apart."

"Oh, well, he has a scar on his left arm, from when he burned it as a little boy," Audra said and pointed to the spot on her own arm. "You don't have that."

"No, it's true, I do not, but I suspect I have some scars that he does not have. The new on one my back, for instance."

"No, actually, Jarrod was shot in the back several years ago, near where your new scar is, just higher up on his back, so you do share at least one scar."

Darby suddenly said, "What do you think the doctor would say if I asked you to take me outside for a few minutes? Being cooped up indoors this long does give a man cabin fever."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Audra said.

"Surely a brief stroll around the verandah wouldn't be a problem."

He was turning on the charm again, but Audra remembered her mother's warning to be careful. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we go find Mother and see what she says?"

She said no. Darby gave in with a small shrug that did not hurt his back, and said, "Well, perhaps a game of cribbage?" he said to Audra. "I believe I saw a board on that small table in the living room."

"No money changes hands," Victoria warned.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Darby said.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Jarrod arrived home that evening, he found his mother, sister and their houseguest in the living room – and everyone, even Jarrod, was startled when Darby got up to greet him. This was the first time they had seen Darby upright and standing next to Jarrod, and it was frightening. Looking at the two of them together, it was easier to see they looked _exactly_ alike. They were the same height, the same weight. Jarrod, in his court suit, was wearing the same suit as Darby except that Darby lacked the jacket. The same blue eyes, the same black hair, the same ruddy complexion – even though Darby was a touch paler, having been indoors for so long. They looked at each other, and when Audra gasped and they both turned to look at her, both she and Victoria nearly fell over.

"Oh, this is almost too much to take," Victoria said. She got up and came over to them – and suddenly was worried she didn't know which one was her son and which one wasn't.

When Jarrod leaned over to kiss her, she knew which man was which. "Don't worry, Mother," Jarrod said. "I'll go change my clothes, so we're at least wearing different colors."

"It is startling," Victoria said. "I just wonder how it can possible be that you resemble each other so strongly."

"Dear Great Grandfather Patterson's influence," Darby said. "If you ever saw a photograph of him, he looked very much like we do, only older. He was in his nineties before he passed."

"I never did see a photograph," Victoria said, "but I'll take your word for it."

"I'll go clean up and change so you don't go cross-eyed, Mother," Jarrod said, and turned and went upstairs.

Darby watched him – and Victoria caught something suspicious in his eyes. She wasn't sure what it was, but it looked uncomfortably like Darby was getting an idea of some sort. "Mr. Darby – " Victoria said.

Darby turned and bowed toward her. "Please, Mrs. Barkley. We're family. Call me Jack."

"Jack," Victoria said. "Please make sure I don't ever confuse you with my son."

"Is the resemblance that strong?" Darby asked.

"It is," Victoria said.

"In that case, I will be very careful to make sure I don't mislead you," Darby said with another bow.

It wasn't lost on Victoria that he did not say he wouldn't mislead anyone else, but rather than be rudely frank in front of Audra, Victoria let it go.

Victoria and Audra had returned to the settee, and Darby was fetching himself a glass of whiskey, when Jarrod came down. He was dressed now in his more casual blue shirt and dark pants, and as he came into the living room he was rolling up his sleeves. "I need to dig into a little more work before dinner," Jarrod said.

Darby moved away from the refreshment table as Jarrod came closer and poured himself a scotch. Darby noticed what Jarrod was drinking, and he noticed something else, too – that scar on Jarrod's left arm. Darby turned away without saying anything about what he had seen, saying only, "I believe Cousin Jarrod has a tendency to overwork."

"He certainly does," Audra said.

Jarrod turned to find her scolding him with her eyes.

Darby said, "You should take in a game of poker now and then, Cousin. I find it a most relaxing and profitable way to spend an evening."

"I indulge at times," Jarrod said. "But I'm afraid with me, my clients come first. If you all will excuse me, I'll see you at dinner."

Jarrod went off to the library, picking up his briefcase from where he had left it under the table in the foyer on his way.

Darby watched him go, and Victoria watched Darby watching. She thought she saw the wheels turning. "Some concern, Jack?" she asked.

"Hm?" Darby said, turning. "No, no, just thinking about how long it's been that I've been away from the poker table. That's how I make my living, you know, and I do enjoy it. I do hope to return to it someday soon."

"Put off thinking about it until the doctor releases you," Victoria said. "You're still not ready to be too much out and about, and we still haven't found whoever it was who shot you."

"Yes, I know," Darby said, and he returned to join them, sitting down in Jarrod's thinking chair.

That wasn't lost on either Victoria or Audra. They both wondered what he was really thinking.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Darby continued to progress. In another couple days, the doctor returned and was so pleased with how his wound was healing, he removed the bandage. He also allowed Darby to travel outside the house. The first thing Darby did was request that Audra show him around the yard.

Victoria gave Darby one of her "be very careful" looks as Audra led him out the front door. Darby bowed to it. Soon Audra led him to the stable, to where they kept the horses. Since Jarrod had to take a lot of paperwork into town and he had taken a buggy into his office, his horse was still stabled. "Hello, Jingo," Audra said, and the horse gave her a nudge. "They'll have him out for a few hours later," Audra said.

"A nice-looking animal," Darby said. As Darby reached to give Jingo a rub behind the ears, Jingo shied away. "Well, I guess I haven't fooled everyone into thinking I'm Jarrod Barkley."

"You're not trying, are you?" Audra asked, half seriously.

"No, indeed I am not," Darby said, laughing a bit. "Since I am beginning to believe I may have been mistaken for him when I was shot, I do not want anyone to believe I am him."

Audra was a little alarmed. "What makes you think someone thought you were him?"

"I am sorry," Darby said, bowing a little. "That was insensitive of me. I only believe that there is no one after me. I am a stranger in these parts – except that I look like your brother."

Audra thought about it. "Jarrod has been injured by people who've held a grudge. I have to accept that, as much as I don't like it. But he's been out and about and no one has tried to hurt him."

"I could be wrong," Darby said. "I suppose we might find out when I venture into town."

"That may still be a few days away," Audra said.

Darby tried to give Jingo's ears a rub again. Jingo was still wary, but allowed it. "Days pass quickly, Audra. I will be out on my own again before you know it, and hopefully, not right back here with another bullet wound."

They walked around some more, and over the next two days, they repeated their route. Darby took to bringing sugar cubes for Jingo, who allowed a bit more scratching behind the ears as reward. On the third day, Audra took Darby on a longer route, heading up the lane toward the Stockton Road. "Once we get to the Stockton road, which way is Stockton?" Darby asked.

"To the right," Audra said. "It's nearly an hour away."

"That far? I look forward to finally seeing your fair city. Perhaps the doctor will allow me to sit a horse again soon."

"He'll come tomorrow," Audra said. "If he does allow you on horseback, I'll take you on a gentle trip to one of our orchards."

"I do regret that my own horse was never found," Darby said. "He was a good mount for me."

"You rode him all the way from Kansas?"

"I did," Darby admitted. Then his eyes twinkled. "I couldn't pass up all those poker tables along the way, and I still have a few dollars in my wallet. I would like to find a game or two before my skills become too rusty."

"I doubt that the doctor will be keen to let you ride all the way to town anytime soon," Audra said. "Besides – "

"Yes, I know," Darby said when Audra hesitated. "We haven't yet determined who shot me and whether he is still out there waiting for me. I sincerely doubt he is, however. And I can always pretend to be your brother until we flush out the villain."

Audra flared up. "No, you cannot pretend to be my brother! Jarrod could have you locked up for that, Jack, and he would do it, too!"

Darby laughed. "I am only teasing you, Audra. Although, if I do venture out in your brother's suit, I may inadvertently be taken for him, which if someone is trying to kill me, may keep me safe."

"Jack, get rid of any ideas about pretending to be Jarrod," Audra warned again.

Darby laughed again. "Don't worry, Audra. I wouldn't dare try."

Audra wasn't sure she trusted him. In fact, she was sure she didn't trust him. Behind those teasing blue eyes was someone who was planning some scheme to get out and about again safely, she was sure. She wondered whether she should warn Jarrod about what Darby was threatening, but as they walked back to the house, Darby seemed to tire, and he kept stretching his back.

"I believe I may have overdone it," he said. "Perhaps I am not quite as fit as I would like to believe."

"Maybe you should rest for a while," Audra suggested.

"I believe I will," Darby said as they came back into the house. He kissed Audra lightly on the cheek. "I thank you for helping me in my recovery, Nurse Audra. You have been pleasant company and I'm sure in a very few days, I will be fully recovered and out of your beautiful hair."

Coming in from the kitchen, Victoria overheard that. She still kept a wary eye on Darby, who bowed to her but then headed slowly up the stairs. The women watched him disappear into the guest wing.

"Mother," Audra said, "I have a sneaking suspicion about Jack."

"Only one?" Victoria asked.

"Only one that really worries me. He's talking about pretending to be Jarrod when he finally ventures out again."

Victoria said. "What did you say to him?"

"I told him Jarrod would have him locked up if he tried to impersonate him, but there really isn't much we can do if someone just takes him for Jarrod, is there?"

Victoria shook her head. "No, there's not much we can do about that. But as for impersonating Jarrod – Mr. Darby needs to know that that kind of breach of trust will get him into serious trouble with the law. And he certainly would not be welcome back here again."

"I hope I made that clear," Audra said, "but I think I'd better talk to Jarrod about it tonight."

"He said he'd be working late, so I don't know what time he'll be getting home," Victoria said. "If it's too very late, I'll stay up and talk to him. Aside from this, has Mr. Darby been any trouble for you at all?"

Audra understood what her mother was insinuating. She smiled. "Nothing more than that kiss on the cheek you just saw. He's been a perfect gentleman. I think you put the fear of God into him, Mother."

"It looks like he needs a little of that every now and then," Victoria said.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod was not home when dinner rolled around. Darby had been taking dinner with the family for several days. It actually looked a little odd to see only one "Jarrod" at the table, and Darby begged off a little early, too. "I believe I overdid my activity today," he said. "Please forgive me if I retire now."

They wished him good night without getting up. Darby made his way into the hall, where he paused to look over his shoulder. No one was following. He quickly took his hat and gun belt from the pegs in the hall and went out the front door.

He went to the stable, where he began to saddle Jingo himself. The stable hand wondered where the buggy "Mr. Jarrod" had taken to town was and why he was going out again. Darby simply said, "I left it down the lane a bit – broke an axle," he said, saddled up and mounted up and left.

It hurt his back a bit to be riding and by the time he got to Stockton, he was stiffening up pretty good. It took a bit for him to get out of the saddle in front of Harry's saloon, but by the time he walked inside, he felt better. He looked for a poker game with an empty spot at the table, and found one.

"Gentlemen," he said to the three men sitting there. Orville Fitz, Joe Ranson, and Carl Wheeler were strangers to him but before he could introduce himself or even ask to join the game, Wheeler spoke up.

"Jarrod Barkley!" Wheeler said. "Don't tell me you've come to play some poker!"

Darby sat down and did not correct him. "A man has to loosen up every once in a while," he said. "What's the game?"

XXXXXX

"Mother!" Audra yelled and hurried downstairs. "Mother!"

Victoria, Nick and Heath came running in from the library. "What is it, what's wrong?!" Victoria asked fast.

Audra looked startled, and worried. "I went to check on Jack! He's not there!"

"Not there?"

"He's gone! Mother – what he said this afternoon – "

Victoria nodded quickly and turned to Nick and Heath. "Darby made some noise about impersonating Jarrod this afternoon."

Heath said, "What do you want to bet he's headed for town to find some poker game?"

Nick was already heading for their hats and gun belts in the hallway. "His hat and gun belt are gone. Don't worry. We'll find him," Nick said when he came back. He handed Heath's hat and gun to him, and they took off.

XXXXXX

Jarrod was up in his office, stretching and looking out the window when he saw his brothers ride up in the streetlight. When they stopped in front of Harry's saloon and hitched up, he also saw his own horse, Jingo, tethered there. He was surprised for a moment – and then he put two and two together. He banged on his window loudly.

Nick and Heath looked up and saw him there, then saw him disappear. They knew he'd be coming down.

"Darby's gonna be in for it now," Heath said.

Jarrod came hurrying out of his building and across the street to join Nick and Heath. "Darby's here, isn't he? I saw Jingo."

"He's not at home," Nick said. "We think he took your horse out and came here and he's probably pretending to be you."

Jarrod literally growled and headed into the saloon.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Gentlemen, I've enjoyed this game very much," Darby said as he gathered in his winnings into his hat.

"You're quitting now?" Orville said. "When you're ahead?"

"I'm only ahead by a hundred dollars or two," Darby said, "and I never quit when I'm behind, unless I'm all tapped out. The goal of gambling is to win, isn't it?"

Orville jumped to his feet. "Barkley, if you get up from this table with a hundred dollars of my money – "

"Sit down, Orville," Ranson said. "It's not just your money he's got, but the man is right. He can leave if he wants to."

Darby had picked up his companions' names and been noticing how much each man at the table had been drinking as they played cards. It was a habit he'd gotten into over the years so he could judge whether a fellow protesting like Orville was would back it up with gunplay. Orville had been drinking more than anyone else – a lot more. "Orville, I'll tell you what. I'll return tomorrow evening and you can try to win it all back."

Ranson rolled his eyes at Wheeler. Wheeler said, "Jarrod, what's happened to you? Did you fall on your head or something? You play poker once every blue moon, not every night."

"I'm just feeling lucky, Carl," Darby said. "Orville, sit down and play some more with these gentlemen if you would like, and I'll see you again tomorrow night."

Darby got up without paying any more attention to Orville, but Orville was not ready to give up. He shoved his chair back and moved a step back from the table.

"Orville," Wheeler said. "This is Jarrod Barkley. Don't go pushing this."

Darby turned to face Orville, and he moved his coat back behind his sidearm. "Do you really want to start something like this, Orville?"

People in the place saw what was happening and began to move away, but at just that instance, the three Barkley brothers came in the door, Jarrod in the lead and hopping mad. Everyone saw Jarrod, including Orville, and everything stopped.

"What the – " Orville said.

Wheeler's cigarette dropped out of his mouth. He and Ranson got up and moved away from the table as Jarrod came over. Then everyone was looking back and forth, from Jarrod to Darby and back again. Mouths fell open all around the room, but no sound came out.

"Darby, you get yourself together and get back to the house," Jarrod said. "You've got no business being out and about, much less in a poker game."

"Darby?" Wheeler said.

"I was just preparing to do that very thing," Darby said. "Gentlemen," he said, bowing slightly to the men he'd been playing poker with, "I am sorry to tell you that I am an errant fraud. I am not Jarrod Barkley. As you can see, this man here is my cousin, Jarrod Barkley. My name is John Darby. My friends and relatives call me Jack, and those who just play poker with me call me Gentleman Jack, because I am nothing if not a gentleman."

"Yeah, yeah," Nick said, not remotely interested in hearing Darby go on and on the way he could. He came forward and took Darby by the arm.

"Careful, Cousin Nick," Darby said as Nick pulled at him. "My back is still a bit tender."

"Your jaw is gonna be a bit tender if you don't quit yapping and come along."

Nick and Heath moved to get Darby out of the room, but before they did, Jarrod grabbed Darby's hat and dumped Darby's winnings back onto the table. "I'm sorry if my cousin has been pretending to be me and won your money under false pretenses," Jarrod said. "Divide this up the way you lost it."

Wheeler grabbed a twenty dollar bill and handed it back to Jarrod. "This is what he came in with, Jarrod – and be damned, we had no idea he wasn't you."

"There is a resemblance that's getting to be annoying," Jarrod said, but then he pushed up his left sleeve. "Darby doesn't have this scar, so that's how you can tell us apart. Good night, boys. Don't expect Cousin Jack to be back tomorrow night."

As Jarrod walked out, Orville sank back down into his chair. Ranson was laughing as he started to divide the money up. "How much did you lose to him, Orville?"

Orville watched Jarrod disappear and then just blubbered, "A hundred or so, I think. Was there just two of them in here?"

Laughter started everywhere around the room.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod fetched his buggy quickly and caught up with Darby and his brothers on the road home. When they got Darby back to the house, it was Audra who let into him first, before they all even got in through the front door. "Jack Darby! I ought to turn you over my knee!"

It was all Darby could do to keep from saying _Oh, please do_, but he resisted. Jarrod intervened fast before Audra could talk herself into trouble. He was afraid she was far too innocent for the likes of Darby. "Cousin Jack is heading back to bed," Jarrod said, and to Darby he said, "And Cousin Jarrod will be staying here all day tomorrow to make sure that Cousin Jack doesn't get out of hand again."

"Come on, Jack," Heath said, taking Darby by the arm and up the stairs.

Darby gave his gun belt to Nick and tipped his hat to the Barkley women. "Ladies, good night," he said and went along with Heath.

Nick and Jarrod steamed as they shed their hats and gun belts and took them to the pegs in the hall. Then they both headed for the refreshment table, Nick saying, "He's lucky he got back here alive. Did you see what Orville was about to do?"

"I did," Jarrod said. "Jack was about to get himself shot at the poker table," he explained to his mother and sister.

They both sighed, exasperated. Victoria said, "He needs even more men trying to shoot him?"

"What he needs and what he gets are two different things," Jarrod said.

Nick said, "You know, we can't keep this up. If he's gonna get himself in trouble, we're just gonna have to set him free and let him."

"Dr. Merar is coming in the morning," Victoria said. "If he says Jack is fit, I think we need to have him be on his way."

"He could get shot again," Audra said. "We still don't know who shot him in the first place."

Her family knew that Audra had fallen some for Darby's charm, having cared for him while he was bedridden and spent more time with him than any of them. Nick said, "Audra, he's turning into more trouble than we can put up with."

"And he's a grown man," Jarrod said. "He's been taking care of himself for a long time and never had any intention of staying here this long anyway."

"But just because he doesn't really have any family," Audra said. "We're the only family he has. How can we turn him out?"

"How can we keep him?" Nick asked.

"Nick is right," Victoria said. "Jack never intended to stay here as long as he's stayed, Audra, and the way he lives his life is not compatible with the way we live ours."

"And he was impersonating me tonight," Jarrod said.

"What?" Victoria asked.

"He was playing poker pretending to be me," Jarrod said. "Even Carl Wheeler had no idea he was an imposter. I can't have him running around claiming to be me. He'll get me into trouble – and as you said, Audra, we still don't know who shot him in the first place. I don't plan to get shot in his stead."

Audra conceded, nodding. "Yes, you're right, I know."

"You just feel sorry for him," Nick said, "but honey, he doesn't deserve it."

"As charming as he is," Jarrod said, "he's still a fraud, Audra."

"All right," Audra said. "Whatever you decide to do, I'll go along with you. If it's time for him to go, then it's time for him to go."

"Heath asked to be the one to invite him to leave," Jarrod said. "He thought since he wasn't a blood relative, he could lean on Jack a little harder than any of us could."

Victoria understood and nodded. Even Audra nodded eventually.

Upstairs, Heath helped Jack out of his gun belt, jacket and shirt, since his back muscle was still sore enough after riding to hinder him a bit. "I do thank you, Cousin Heath."

Heath said, "You do know that I'm not blood related to you."

Darby looked surprised. "You're not?"

Heath hung the jacket and shirt up on the butler and put the gun belt over the knob of the footboard of the bed. "No. I am Tom Barkley's son, but not Victoria's blood son. She adopted me."

"Well," Darby said. "How about that?"

Heath took a look at the healing wound on Darby's back. It was good and closed now and he hadn't kept it bandaged for several days. "That's looking pretty good. The doctor ought to give you a clean bill of health tomorrow." Then Heath turned blunt. "And I think you ought to be hitting the road by the day after."

Darby looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Overstaying my welcome, am I?"

"You're family to the people I love," Heath said. "They might have a tough time telling you it's time to go, so I'm telling you for them. You've been trying to impress Audra, and you impersonated Jarrod tonight."

"I admit that I did," Darby said. "I thought it might keep me from being shot as Gentleman Jack."

"And maybe it did," Heath said, "but keep pulling that and you could get Jarrod shot. Now, I'm an easy-going fella, but my brother Nick isn't. If Jarrod was to get hurt because somebody thought he was you – well, they'd be pealing your hide up off the floor for a week."

Darby's eyes were like Jarrod's – you could see how he felt about things, unless he had reason to hide his feelings, and right now Darby had no reason to hide the fact that the prospect of being cleaned up off the floor for a week was alarming. "I catch your drift, Cousin Heath."

"You best make plans to be out of here when the doctor says you can go," Heath said.

Darby heaved a sigh. "I will be very honest with you about this, Heath. Having family around me like this is not something I've had in my life. I've liked it."

"But you haven't earned it," Heath said.

Darby nodded. "Understood. You may tell the family that we've talked and I plan to be on my way within 24 hours of the doctor saying it is safe for me to do so."

Heath gave him a smile and an easy pat on the shoulder. "That's very gentlemanly of you, Jack."

Darby would have shrugged, but it made his back hurt.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The first thing Dr. Merar said when he came out to the Barkley ranch was, "I hear our patient had a fairly long outing to town last night." And he leveled an unhappy look at Darby, standing before him in the living room.

"I fear I misjudged my capacities in my urge to return to a normal life," Darby said. "I must confess, my back gave me an unpleasant night's sleep."

Jarrod, Victoria and Audra were there greeting the doctor as well, and their faces said they had no sympathy for Darby's argument. Dr. Merar read them all and said, "Well, Mr. Darby, let's go upstairs and have a look."

Victoria was inclined to go along, but Jarrod raised his hand as Darby and Dr. Merar headed up the stairs. He followed along instead. In a short time, Darby had shed his jacket and shirt and Dr. Merar was examining the wound.

"This looks very, very good," Dr. Merar said. "You still have a bit of pain, I take it?"

Darby looked at Jarrod, whose expression told him he'd better be truthful. Darby, however, always had the urge to embellish the truth, if not out and out lie. "Yes, quite a bit, actually, especially when I lie on my side."

"Don't lie on your side," Jarrod said.

Dr. Merar smiled a little. "It's not a bad sign if it's a bit tender. It may be that way for quite a while. The important thing is that you don't seem to have done any damage with your excursion last night. Mr. Darby, I think if you rest here today, avoiding riding a horse, and avoid going to town, you should be fine to go about your business tomorrow."

"You mean, he can travel tomorrow," Jarrod said.

"As long as he rests when his back tells him to, yes," Dr. Merar said.

Jarrod eyed Darby as he said, "I know he's anxious to continue his tour of California."

"I wouldn't do it on horseback, not for another week or so, but by train, I don't see any reason he can't."

Dr. Merar smiled his friendly doctor smile, which did a good job of hiding the fact that he knew the Barkleys were anxious to get rid of their houseguest. Darby began to put his shirt and jacket back on, not showing any signs of discomfort now. He knew he had played that card for the last time. "I am very pleased to hear that, but Cousin Jarrod, we still don't know why I was shot in the first place. There may still be someone waiting to make another try."

"Doctor, would you be kind enough to ask the sheriff to stop by here today?" Jarrod asked. "Tell him we'd like to know if he has any more information about the shooter. I'd go into town, but I promised my mother and sister I would stay at the ranch today to help with Mr. Darby."

Dr. Merar understood everything. "I'll ask," he said.

The three of them went back downstairs, and Dr. Merar announced to the women that Darby could get back to his regular life the next day if he so desired. Victoria thanked the doctor and showed him to the door. As soon as he left, she turned and came back to her houseguest and her children, saying, "Heath tells me he had a conversation with you last night when my sons brought you home," Victoria said.

"Indeed, he did," Darby said.

Victoria nodded, slowly.

Jarrod said, "Jack, why don't you and I discuss where you're going to be going tomorrow and what train I will be putting you on so that you can continue your travels comfortably?"

"Won't my departure depend somewhat on what the sheriff has to say?" Darby asked.

"I don't think the sheriff is going to be affecting our discussion that much," Jarrod said. "You took yourself into town yesterday with no trouble at all, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, I did," Darby said. "And it's true, I do want to continue my tour of California."

Jarrod put his arm around Darby's shoulders. "Good. Let's go into the library and map our your itinerary, shall we?"

As the two men disappeared into the library, Audra said, "I've enjoyed Jack's company, but I won't mind seeing him go. He's affecting the length of Jarrod's sentences too much."

Victoria broke into a laugh.

XXXXXXXX

The sheriff came out as requested and regretted he didn't have any more information than he ever had on who had shot Darby. "I'm guessing it was a bounty hunter who lost interest and left the area when he found out the bounty was withdrawn," Sheriff Madden said.

"That would explain why no one has taken a shot at either one of us," Jarrod said.

"And it is a great relief to me," Darby added.

Inartfully, the sheriff said, "When are you leaving, Darby?"

Darby chuckled. "I believe my walking papers are dated tomorrow, Sheriff."

And so the good-byes came the next morning, Nick and Heath giving Darby their last "good luck" and not necessarily meaning it all that much, as they went out the door to work. Jarrod was planning to take Darby to town with him but they had not mapped out an itinerary for him to continue to see California. Jarrod intended to put him on a train east to Chicago. From there, Darby would be on his own. Darby looked unhappy about the situation for a moment, but he didn't utter a word. He just smiled, nodded, and as he and Jarrod left, he tipped his hat and kissed Victoria and Audra on the cheek.

"I thank you ladies very much for taking such good care of me," he said. "Without you, I'd have been in quite the pickle."

"Have a safe trip home," Victoria wished him.

Jarrod got the man out to the buggy, asking, "Do you have everything?"

Darby felt the breast pocket of his – actually, Jarrod's – suit to be sure he had that one thousand dollar bill, even though he had watched Audra open the lining and tack the bill inside. He felt the slip of paper against fabric. He already knew his personal papers were in his boot. He also made sure he had his wallet, and the Barkleys had lent him a small bag to carry the trousers and jacket he was wearing when he arrived, as well as some clean underwear and socks. That was all he really had to his name since his horse and saddlebags disappeared. "It appears I do have everything," Darby said and climbed in beside his look-alike cousin.

Jarrod slapped the reins, and they got a few grins and shakes of the head from men working in the stable yard who were not used to seeing Jarrod and Darby together. They got even more reactions from the people in town, some of whom stopped and stared, and one who actually walked into a post. They stopped at the bank, where Darby changed his thousand dollar bill into smaller denominations. When they arrived at the train station, the man at the ticket window looked up briefly, said, "Good morning, Mr. Barkley," then saw two of them and said, "Ahh – "

"This is Mr. Darby," Jarrod said. "He is taking the morning train to Sacramento and will pick up the eastbound there so will you please sell him a ticket to Chicago?"

"Of course," the man behind the window said. Then, "I suppose you've already heard that you look enough alike to be twins."

"Trust me, we're not twins," Jarrod said. "Cough up the money, Jack."

Darby smiled and gave a small laugh as he opened his wallet to pay the fare. "I still wish I could impose upon you to grant me your consent to continue my visit to your fair – "

"Jack, just buy the ticket," Jarrod cut him off.

Darby smiled at the man behind the counter and paid for his ticket.

The train was due in in another few minutes, so Jarrod and Darby just waited on the platform. Jarrod had no urge to carry on any conversation, so it was Darby who began. "I do apologize for the inconvenience I have been," he said. "You and your family have been very gracious, and I do appreciate it."

"Don't mention it, Jack," Jarrod said. "Just get safely to New Orleans or wherever it is you're planning to end up."

"New Orleans it is, at least for a while," Darby said. "I'll be back on my feet with a new set of clothes very soon, and I'll send your suit back to you by mail."

"Don't bother," Jarrod said. "I'm having another made. Keep that one as a souvenir, since I don't think you'll be back this way again – will you?"

"Cousin Jarrod," Darby said, "I have apologized for my inconvenience and I meant for the inconvenience of my injury and lengthy convalescence as well as my indiscretion the other night when I failed to correct my gambling companions when they mistook me for you."

"All is forgiven, Jack," Jarrod said quickly as Darby took a breath. He really didn't want to give him a chance to rattle off again. They could hear the train whistle off in the distance, coming closer.

It was scarcely three minutes later the train pulled to a stop and Jarrod ushered Darby on. Darby paused before he went into the passenger car and tipped his hat. "Thanks again, Cousin Jarrod."

Jarrod waved him good-bye. He watched as Darby entered the car and could see him through the window sitting down. Jarrod stayed on the platform until the train pulled away a few minutes later. He wanted to be sure Darby didn't just climb off before the train gained speed, but he didn't. The train took off for Sacramento with Darby on board.

Jarrod gave a sincere breath of relief. The man was gone and finally out of their hair. Soon he'd be thousands of miles away.

Jarrod thought.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It only took three days before Sheriff Madden came back to Jarrod's office. The first thing he said was, "Good. You're here."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere until I leave for San Francisco next week, Fred," Jarrod said, looking up from papers he was working on. "Why? Is there a problem?"

Sheriff Madden sat down. "According to the police in San Francisco, you're already there."

Jarrod went white. "What?"

Sheriff Madden. "And you're in jail for getting into a fight at a poker game at the Palace last night. Disturbing the peace and lying to authorities."

"Lying?"

"About who you are."

Jarrod sighed, exasperated. "We know who I am, and we know who that fellow in jail in San Francisco is, too, don't we? Damn you, Darby!"

"I thought you put him on a train to Chicago."

"I did. He pulled a switch on me, probably in Sacramento. I knew I show have taken him all the way to Chicago myself."

"It's the chief of police in San Francisco who wired me. Darby's been passing himself off as you, but when he was arrested for the fight, they called in the chief because – well, the fight was in the palace and the mayor was at another table. He had Darby cough up his identification papers, and that was the end of all that. Just to be sure, they wanted me to verify that you were still here."

Jarrod sighed again and checked his watch. "I can still make the morning train and be in San Francisco this evening." He got up and grabbed his jacket. He considered taking his gun belt, but then put it in his desk and locked it. "Will you do me a favor, Fred? Wire San Francisco and tell them the real me is coming to get my cousin out of trouble if I can, and Angie!" He called his secretary, who came in. "Send a runner out to the ranch and tell them I have to go to San Francisco to get Jack Darby out of jail. They'll understand."

Sheriff Madden stood up. "How are you ever going to get rid of this twin of yours?"

"That doesn't worry me as much as how I'm going to repair all the damage he's probably done to my reputation in San Francisco," Jarrod said. "Angie, tell them I might be a few days."

XXXXXXXX

Once he reached San Francisco, it took Jarrod a while to track down exactly where Darby was being held. It was nearly ten o'clock when he finally found him, and explained to a precinct captain who couldn't stop staring that Darby really was Jack Darby and not Jarrod Barkley. He found out that Darby had lost the bulk of his thousand dollars playing poker over the last few days, so Jarrod posted the bail the court had set that morning.

"I made every effort to explain that I was John Darby and not you," Darby said as he reclaimed his personal belongings.

"Yes, but that was after you claimed to be me ever since you got here and got caught at it," Jarrod said. "You're just darned lucky they know me around here." He looked at the property sergeant behind the desk who was so shocked looking at him and Darby that he couldn't shut his mouth. "Don't worry, Lionel, you're not seeing things. Mr. Darby here is my cousin and I have the misfortune of resembling him."

The property sergeant shook his head. "I really thought he was you, Mr. Barkley, despite his papers. He even has that scar on his arm."

Jarrod's eyes flew open. "He has WHAT?"

"Merely ink, Cousin Jarrod," Darby said. "It will wear off in a matter of days."

"It'll have some help as soon as I get you home!"

"I must be in court in the morning for my hearing," Darby said as they headed out the door.

"What time?" Jarrod asked.

"Eleven o'clock," Darby said.

"That might give me time to straighten this out and get you off the hook without serving any time," Jarrod said. "But Jack, if I do get you off, as soon as they release you, I'm putting you on a boat straight to New Orleans."

"That would be quite welcome, Cousin," Darby said.

"And if I ever – and I mean _ever_ – hear of you impersonating me again, anywhere in the entire world, I will track you down and hang your sorry hide from the nearest tree. Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Cousin. Loud and clear." They were outside now and Darby asked, "Where are we going?"

"I own a home here," Jarrod said. "We're going there for the night – and I'd better find everything I had there is still there after you've left town."

"Cousin Jarrod, I am hurt," Darby acted wounded. "Do you think I'm not capable of learning my lessons?"

"No, I think you're not _interested_ in learning your lessons," Jarrod said and hailed a hack.

In half an hour, they were entering Jarrod's house together, and Jarrod closed the door behind them. It took him a moment to get lights on, since he did not yet have the new electric light system that was becoming available. Once he had lighting, however, Darby was able to take a look around. "Very nice, Cousin," he said. "And this is yours, strictly? Not the family's property?"

"Mine," Jarrod said. "I earn my own keep in San Francisco – or at least I did. Thanks to you, I now have to clear up my reputation with the bar."

"I do apologize, Cousin. Impersonating you was ghastly of me and I will not do it again."

"I know you won't," Jarrod said.

Jarrod checked his watch. It was getting on to midnight now. Darby said, "I trust there is a place for me to lay my head for the night."

"Upstairs," Jarrod said. "The last door toward the back. The door on the right before that is the wc. Go to bed, now."

"A little something to help me sleep, perhaps?"

"Go to bed, Jack."

Denied even a nip, Darby made his way upstairs, but stopped half way. "Do you have a razor I might borrow in the morning? I haven't had anything with which to shave since your brother kindly lent me – "

"Grow a beard," Jarrod said. "It might help people tell us apart until I get you headed east."

"Good night, Cousin," Darby said and went upstairs.

Jarrod poured himself some scotch and sank into a chair. He wasn't even sure he trusted Darby to still be here in the morning. The man could easily sneak off during the night and Jarrod would be out his bail money, but he was pretty sure if Darby did that, he would get out of town. The jig was up for him in San Francisco, and Darby was sharp enough to know it. Jarrod half wished he would be gone in the morning, but of course he didn't really. He wanted his bail money back, and he wanted to personally see Darby on a boat from which he could not wander.

XXXXXXXX

Darby was there in the morning, his inked in "scar" as washed off as it was going to get – time was going to have to get rid of it entirely. Fortunately, his hearing was before a judge Jarrod knew personally. When the case was called and Jarrod and Darby stood together before Judge Oberlin, the judge looked startled for a moment, and then he smiled. "Which of you is which?" he asked.

Jarrod said, "I am Jarrod Barkley, your honor, entering my appearance on behalf of my cousin, John Darby."

"Well, at least now I understand the charges," Judge Oberlin said. "How are you pleading, Mr. Darby?"

"Guilty, your honor," Darby said, almost proudly.

Jarrod quickly said, "Your honor, Mr. Darby did make an attempt during his arrest last night to tell the arresting officers who he really was, but they both knew me personally and did not believe him until the chief showed up. It appears they believed he was me and I had simply had too much to drink. No one was seriously injured in the fight, and I request the court sentence Mr. Darby to the 24 hours already served and let me take him to the port where this evening I will put him on a boat to his home, which is New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Darby would like to state that he will not return to California and he will never again impersonate me."

Judge Oberlin looked at the prosecutor. "Does the State concur?"

The prosecutor said, "Your honor, Mr. Barkley and I discussed this case just prior to this hearing, and the State is satisfied that under the circumstances, time served is an appropriate sentence, on the conditions Mr. Barkley described."

Always happy to get rid of a case, the judge banged his gavel. "The sentence is time served. Mr. Darby is free to go and any bail refunded, but beware, Mr. Darby, if you are ever arrested in California again, you will be back before this court and you will be serving much more time."

"I do understand, your honor," Darby said.

"Have a nice trip to New Orleans, Mr. Darby," the judge said.

"Thank you, your honor," Darby said, and Jarrod hustled him out of the courtroom so fast neither one of them saw the smiles on the faces of the judge and the prosecutor.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jarrod treated Darby to lunch and otherwise did not take his eyes off his cousin except for the moments one or the other of them was indisposed. They went to the port master and found a boat that would take Darby faaaaar away around Cape Horn and then back up to New Orleans. Darby used most of the money he had left and some borrowed from Jarrod to pay the fare. After a light dinner that Jarrod paid for, they went in search of the boat that would take him home.

"How much money do you have left?" Jarrod asked as they left the restaurant.

Darby sighed. "Sadly, about six dollars."

The sun was setting as they found the boat, which was scheduled to leave in two hours. Jarrod didn't want to just put Darby on the boat and then leave, not at all certain he actually would stay on the boat, so they went in search of a bar to catch a drink, but no poker.

"Your gambling days in California are over, Jack," Jarrod said as they walked toward the bar.

And then a voice behind them said, "Your days are over, period, Darby."

They both stopped. Darby felt a pistol at his back. Jarrod looked over his shoulder and saw it. He also saw the man holding it, a man about the same height and age as they were but blond with a moustache. Jarrod had no idea who he was.

The man did not have any reaction to seeing the resemblance between the two men in front of him. He simply said, "I've been trying to sort you two out for a long time, so I'm just as happy to have both of you in one place without any guards."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Jarrod asked.

"My friend Jack here knows who I am," the man said. "We're going to take a walk to the waterfront where we are gonna disappear into an alley and Mr. Darby and I are gonna conduct a little business."

Darby had not turned around and didn't see the man, but he started moving when he was prodded with the pistol. Jarrod walked along, looking for an opening to get the gun away from the man without anyone being hurt. There were other people on the street who might get shot if he was not careful about it, so for now, he just went along with Darby and the blond man.

"Who are you?" Jarrod asked again. "What's your beef with Darby?"

"A little matter of a relation of mine Mr. Darby put into the ground in Kansas," the man said.

"Ah," Darby said. "Addle was the name, if I'm right."

"Bob Addle," the man said.

"My good man," Darby said, "that was ruled to be justified on my part, self-defense. The wanted poster on me was rescinded."

"My cousin's still dead," the man said.

"Are you the man who shot Darby in Stockton?" Jarrod asked.

The man made no confession. He simply said, "I'm the man who's going to leave him in the harbor here."

"I'm sure this is the man who shot me, Jarrod," Darby said. "This would be Dan Addle. He and I had a bit of a tussle in Kansas, which is why I left, but he's been following me and I've been one step ahead of him, until California."

"I got on the train behind you from Stockton to Sacramento, and I knew you were gonna get on the eastbound, but then you didn't do it and I found out you took the westbound instead," Addle said. "Took me days to find you."

They were heading into an alley, and Jarrod decided to try something. He stopped. "Darby, are you telling me you ran all the way out here because this man was after you since _Kansas_? Darby, you are about the most troublesome relative I ever had! You knew all along this was the guy after you in Stockton! If you're not attracting men trying to kill you, you're impersonating me and getting into fights in poker games – "

Jarrod gesticulated, slowing down, yelling Darby's way. Darby caught on. "Cousin Jarrod, I assure you, I am completely innocent in this matter concerning Mr. Addle, and this Mr. Addle simply has confused his grief with his urge for revenge – "

"Shut up!" Addle growled low.

In the alley and free from innocents around them, Jarrod abruptly turned and slapped the gun away. A stray shot went off into nowhere. Jarrod quickly landed several punches and left Addle on the ground before he could get one punch off in return. Darby picked up the pistol Addle dropped just as a policeman who had heard the shot came running in.

"All right, that's enough!" the policeman said, then saw the gun. "Drop the gun right now!"

Darby literally dropped it like it had suddenly increased a hundred degrees in temperature.

The policeman picked it up. "What is this about?" Then he noticed the resemblance between the two men in front of him. He didn't know Jarrod personally and Jarrod did not know him, but he said, "Are you those two who were in Judge Oberlin's court this morning?"

The police department grapevine was in full voice.

"We are," Jarrod said. "I'm Jarrod Barkley. This is my cousin, John Darby. Do you know what happened in court?"

"Everybody does," the police officer said, "but that doesn't mean a thing right now."

Addle was still lying on the ground. Jarrod pointed down at him. "This man was abducting us. Mr. Darby was accused of killing his cousin in Kansas, but it was found to be self-defense. Mr. Addle down here wasn't willing to accept that. He'll be wanted for shooting Mr. Darby a couple weeks ago in Stockton as well as trying to get away with us just now."

"We'll go back to the station and sort this all out," the police officer said.

Jarrod nearly fell over. "Officer, Mr. Darby told the court that he'd be leaving California right away and he has booked passage on a boat that leaves in two hours."

"Well, that was before now. Mr. Darby may need to stick around for the trial of this fella here, but that's not my call. Let's just go see if we can sort this out and maybe we can get him on that boat," the policeman said. "But I make no promises."

Darby smiled a little, not necessarily adverse to spending a little more time in California, but Jarrod was ready to scream. Here he was within just two hours of getting rid of Darby forever, and now it looked like it was going to get stalled.

Addle moaned and began to get up. The police officer pulled him all the way, said, "Let's go," and off they all went to the local precinct.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod begged, pleaded, and cajoled as much as he ever did in a courtroom to get the precinct captain to let him put Darby on that boat, and fortunately, the man knew Jarrod's reputation. And as the officer had said, everybody seemed to know who these two "twins" were and what happened that morning in court. Once Darby told the captain that he never saw who shot him in Stockton and could offer no evidence against Addle, the precinct captain locked Addle up and allowed Jarrod to take Darby to his boat to get out of California, on the condition that Jarrod return in the morning to file formal charges against Addle and make himself available to testify about the abduction. Jarrod agreed quickly, the captain had no trouble believing him, and Jarrod got Darby down to the boat just in time to get on.

"I can't thank you enough, Cousin Jarrod," Darby said, turning and reaching to shake Jarrod's hand.

"Good-bye, Jack, and good luck," Jarrod said, and noticed something happening as Jack and he shook hands. When Jack turned to go, Jarrod grabbed him by the sleeve. "Ah!"

Darby turned.

"I'll have my wallet back," Jarrod said.

Darby gave a little grin and took Jarrod's wallet out from inside his jacket. He had lifted it from Jarrod as they shook hands. He quietly handed it back over, tipped his hat, and boarded the ship.

And that was how their adventure ended. As soon as Jack was on board, the gangplank was being lifted. The last Jarrod saw of Jack Darby was the very familiar face waving good-bye from under a soft lamplight on the boat as it began to ease away out of the dock.

Jarrod felt like he was breathing again for the first time in weeks. Darby was really gone. He couldn't get off a boat and sneak his way back to California, and given the threat by the judge, Jarrod didn't think he'd ever see Darby in this state again. Exhausted, relieved, and thanking God with every step, Jarrod headed off to find a hack and go home.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod had his own regular business to take care of in San Francisco, so he simply wired the family that Darby was gone to New Orleans by slow boat and he himself would be delayed getting home. It was a full three weeks before Jarrod found his way back to the Barkley ranch. It was well after dinner before he came into the house, exhausted, leaving his hat on the table in the foyer.

His family came into the foyer from the library, Nick offering a hand and saying, "Well, well, well, we were beginning to wonder if you were gonna go off and impersonate Darby back in New Orleans for a while."

"A little revenge," Heath said as he shook hands with Jarrod.

Jarrod kissed his mother and sister. "No, just my regular work and trying to straighten my reputation out after Darby got through shredding it. I had to spend a couple days in Sacramento to do that, as well as all the work in San Francisco. And I'm beat."

"It will probably make you feel better to know we haven't heard a thing from or about Jack Darby since you left," Victoria said.

"Amen to that," Jarrod said.

Audra put her arm around him, and together they all went back into the library. Nick and Heath were in the middle of a game of pool that Heath picked up immediately, saying, "I'm about to win a dollar off our brother here, Jarrod. You want to take me on?"

"No, no, no," Jarrod said quickly and fetched a glass of scotch. "I've decided I don't want anything to do with gambling for a while."

Audra sat down on the sofa with Victoria. "You know, it's been very quiet around here without you, and without Jack."

"Yeah, it'll take some getting used to, seeing just one of you," Nick said.

Victoria suddenly looked suspicious. "And now that I think about it – Jarrod, push up your left sleeve."

Jarrod put his drink down and followed her directions. His scar was plain to see, but, "Don't think you can go depending on this entirely for my identity. Darby had taken up inking in his own scar."

"Well, then," Nick said, stepping closer to his older brother and looking him hard in the eye. "How are we supposed to know you're not Darby and it's Jarrod you stuck on that slow boat around the Horn?"

Jarrod stuck his arm in Nick's face. "Mine won't rub off."

Nick laughed to prove his was kidding – but Heath stepped closer and rubbed at the scar. Jarrod threatened him with a fake backhand, and Heath laughed.

"Do you think we ever will see Jack again?" Audra wondered.

"No," Jarrod said quickly. "If he turns up here again, we're entitled to have him arrested and sent to jail in San Francisco, where he will promptly be escorted to San Quentin."

"Wow," Heath said. "That's what I call insurance that you can always count on being you from now on."

Jarrod sighed and took a sip of his scotch, smiling.

"But what are you going to do the next time you have to go to New Orleans?" Nick asked.

Jarrod's smile turned to a scowl, and then he sighed. "One thing's for sure. I won't be impersonating Jack Darby."

The End


End file.
